U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


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(FROM  THE  EASTON  ARGUS.) 

EXTRACT  FROM  THE  CHARGE  OF  JUDGE  MAYNARD  TO  THE 
GRAND  JURY  OF  NORTHAMPTON  COUNTY,  AT  THE  OPEN- 
ING OF  THE  COURT,  JANUARY  TERM,  1863. 


ALLEGIANCE  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  the 
first  and  highest  political  duty  of  every  citizen.  It  is  therefore 
the  duty  of  all  to  unite  as  the  heart  of  one  man,  with  unalterable 
purpose,  and  nerved  with  the  physical  energy  of  the  nation,  to 
put  down  and  crush  out  this  wicked  rebellion  against  our 
Government.  It  is  for  this  purpose  and  this  alone,  that  the 
war  should  be  prosecuted  with  unabated  vigor.  A  fearful 
responsibility  rests  upon  our  Government  and  upon  our  people. 
The  eyes  of  the  world  are  upon  us.  Free  institutions  have 
their  all  staked  on  this  issue.  The  friends  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  everywhere  hold  their  breath  while  we  struggle.  Let 
us  not  disappoint  the  faith  which  enlightened  Christendom  has 
placed  in  a  Government,  based  upon  the  will  of  the  people. 
If  we  fail,  our  national  epitaph  will  be  written  as  surely  as 
with  the  finger  of  the  Almighty, — "  Man  is  incapable  of  self- 
government."  If  we  do  our  duty  the  cheek  of  posterity  will 
not  blush  with  shame  to  own  us  as  their  ancestors,  and  while 
living,  we  shall  escape  the  consuming  flame  of  self-reproach. 
We  have  State  pride;  we  glory  in  the  proud  title  of  "The 
Keystone  State,"  but  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  the  only 
safety  for  ourselves  and  our  institutions  is  found  in  the  Union. 
Pennsylvania  has  not  the  attributes  or  elements  of  national 
sovereignty,  to  stand  alone  and  maintain  an  equality  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth.  In  that  capacity  we  have  no  con- 
nection with  the  outside  world.  We  have  neither  sea-coast 


nor  navy,  and  are  therefore  externally  powerless.  We  can 
neither  control  other  states  or  nations,  nor  protect  or  preserve 
our  own  Government  and  institutions.  But  thanks  to  the 
wisdom  of  our  fathers,  who  framed,  ordained,  and  established 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  we  have  a  rock  of 
defence,  and  it  is  indeed  to  all  the  States,  and  all  the  people 
thereof,  "like  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock,"  where  all  might 
repose  in  safety,  and  breathe  freely  as  we  read  this  sacred 
guaranty  thereon  inscribed, — "  The  United  States  shall  guar- 
antee to  every  State  in  this  Union  a  republican  form  of 
government,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against  invasion, 
and  on  the  application  of  the  Legislature  or  of  the  Executive, 
(when  the  Legislature  cannot  be  convened)  against  domestic 
violence." 

This  Constitution  is  our  safety  in  the  present,  as  well  as  in 
the  impending  storm.  A  republican  government  cannot  be 
administered  without  a  Constitution  in  which  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  the  people  are  declared,  and  secured.  It  has  been 
well  said  that  "  the  price  of  liberty  is  eternal  vigilance,"  arid 
if  this  wise  maxim  had  been  properly  heeded,  this  rebellion 
would  have  been  crushed  in  the  bud, — when  the  little  cloud 
appeared  in  our  southern  horizon,  in  size  like  that  seen  by  the 
servant  of  the  prophet,  not  larger  than  a  man's  hand,  and 
from  which  a  few  murmuring  voices  were  then  heard,  like  the 
faint  mutterings  of  distant  thunder  ;  but  we  heeded  not  the 
portents  of  the  threatening  storm  until  the  whole  southern  sky 
was  overcast.  The  fury  of  that  storm  now  shakes,  not  only 
this  continent,  threatening  to  ingulf  our  institutions,  but 
agitates  the  nations  of  Europe,  and  threatens  to  overthrow  and 
destroy  the  peaceful  and  commercial  relations  of  the  world. 
Let  us  bear  in  mind,  that  successful  rebellion  is  dissolution, — 
that  republics  are  founded  upon  the  will  of  the  majority,  and 
that  that  will  is  capable  of  revolution  at  all  times.  Rebellion 
can  be  put  down,  only  by  physical  force,  "  the  last  argument 
of  kings."  If  therefore  the  will,  and  the  united  energies  of 
,the  loyal  heart  of  this  nation,  prove  inadequate  to  conquer  the 


rebellion,  to  save  the  Constitution,  and  restore  peace,  it  will 
then  be  time  to  sheathe  the  sword,  for  God  and  man  will  say 
that  the  lintels  and  door-posts  of  our  dwellings  have  been 
sufficiently  sprinkled  with  fraternal  blood,  to  stay  the  hand  of 
the  destroying  angel,  that  we  be  not  swallowed  up  in  that 
bottomless  pit  of  anarchy  and  woe  from  which  issue  the  horrid 
spectres  that  beget  our  fears, — the  grave  of  the  Constitution 
and  Union.  A  Government  like  ours,  based  upon  the  united 
will  of  a  free  and  intelligent  people,  is  the  strongest  Govern- 
ment on  earth.  But  divided  as  we  now  are,  it  is  not  a  solecism 
to  say  our  strength  is  our  weakness,  because  that  strength  is 
used  to  sever  and  destroy  the  bonds,  both  national  and  political, 
which  make  us  one  people.  There  is  but  one  human  power 
which  can  overcome  and  destroy  us  ;  that  is  our  own.  It  is  the 
power  of  self  destruction,  used  only  by  the  suicide.  This 
nation  stands  on  the  verge  of  an  awful  abyss.  The  impassable 
gulf  is  yawning  before  us.  The  warning  voice  of  history,  in 
clarion  tones  calls  upon  us  to  pause,  in  our  career  of  madness. 
That  history  unrolls  to  our  view  in  panorama,  the  voyage  of 
departed  nations  and  governments,  while  the  immovable  finger 
of  truth  points  to  the  rocks  and  shoals  on  which  they  wrecked 
and  stranded.  Let  us  be  wise,  and  heed  the  admonitions  of 
history,  and  not  only  pause,  but  retrace  our  steps,  until  we 
strike  the  beaten  path  made  by  our  fathers,  which  leads  to 
peace,  prosperity,  and  happiness.  The  path  is  the  great  high- 
way of  constitutional  liberty.  My  faith  though  shaken,  is  still 
strong  in  the  wisdom,  the  intelligence,  and  patriotism  of  the 
people,  and  I  turn  with  hope  from  these  gloomy  forebodings, 
that  our  glorious  Union,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  is  to  be 
perpetual.  "  That  when  this  young  and  wide-extending 
republic  shall  feel  the  slow  decay  which  fleeting  years  reveal, 
Philosophy  will  still  smile  in  the  sky  of  our  Franklin,  and 
glory  will  burn  o'er  the  tomb  of  Washington/' 


(FROM  THE  WORLD,  NEW  YORK,  APRIL  11,  1863.)  • 

POSITION  OF   THE  DEMOCRATIC  PARTY. 

The  good  results  of  the  Democratic  opposition  are  apparent  in  the  fact,  that 
the  Republican  party  has  been  driven  by  it  to  a  pretended  recognition  of  the 
true  principles  on  which  the  war  should  be  conducted.  Previous  to  the  ani- 
mated discussions  and  great  Democratic  triumphs  in  the  fall  elections,  the 
administration  party  insisted  on  the  wildest  methods  for  putting  down  the  re- 
bellion. The  chief  of  these  was  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  and  the 
confiscation  of  all  property  belonging  to  southern  owners.  ***** 

The  Democratic  party  understands  the  difference  between  a  patriotic  and  a 
factious  opposition.  It  will  never  be  found  favoring  any  course  that  tends  to 
put  the  country  in  the  power  of  its  enemies.  No  rule  can  be  laid  down,  that 
shall  in  all  cases,  mark  the  exact  dividing  line  between  praiseworthy  and  repre- 
hensible opposition ;  but  there  are  some  cases  where  the  duty  to  oppose  is  so 
plain  and  imperative  as  to  preclude  all  doubt.  ******** 

When  the  acts  and  measures  resorted  to  by  the  government  in  war  time  are 
not  deemed  unconstitutional,  but  only  inexpedient,  the  limits  of  allowable  op- 
position cannot  always  be  clearly  marked ;  but  even  here,  patriotic  intention 
can  never  go  far  wrong.  Even  if  the  war  be  thought  impolitic  and  unwise,  or 
even  unjust,  if  it  nevertheless  constitutionally  exists,  it  can  be  opposed  only  by 
constitutional  methods.  One  party  can  make  war7  but  it  requires  two  to  make 
peace ;  and  while  our  country  is  exposed  to  the  depredations  of  active  hostile 
armies,  no  good  citizen  will  knowingly  do  anything  to  put  it  at  the  mercy  of 
the  enemy.  No  matter  whether  the  war  is  just  or  unjust,  while  the  enemy 
does  not  choose  to  make  peace,  we  have  no  choice  but  to  continue  the  war ; 
and  any  war  which  is  not  prosecuted  with  spirit  and  energy  dishonors  the 
national  character.  It  is  for  the  interest  of  a  nation  to  be  at  war  as  seldom 
as  possible.  It  is,  therefore,  for  the  national  advantage  that  every  war  it 
undertakes  shall  be  prosecuted  with  such  vigor,  force,  and  spirit,  that  every 
other  nation,  as  well  as  the  immediate  enemy,  shall  take  warning  from  its  pluck 
and  determination,  and  become  convinced  that  war  with  it,  by  whomsoever 
undertaken,  will  prove  anything  but  child's  play.  If  we  are  defeated,  we  must 
of  course  make  peace  ;  but  even  then  the  more  formidable,  our  attitude  of  re- 
sistance, the  better  the  terms  likely  to  be  obtained  from  the  victorious  party. 
When  we  have  gained  some  great  advantage  over  the  enemy,  we  can  honorably 
offer  him  terms  of  peace.  But  so  long  as  he  neither  sues  for  peace,  nor  will 
accept  of  it,  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  to  fight  him. 

For  our  part,  we  have  no  desire  to  repress  the  growth  of  the  small  wing  of 
the  Democratic  party  that  has  declared  for  peace.  Whatever  may  be  the 
result  of  the  war,  the  time  will  sooner  or  later  come  when  a  peace  party  will 
be  one  of  the  chief  needs  of  the  country.  If  not  already  needed  as  a  counter- 
poise to  the  host  of  men  who  grow  rich  by  the  war,  it  at  least  is  not  dangerous. 
But  a  majority  of  the  Democratic  party  are  resolutely  opposed  to  peace,  until 
they  can  see  that  peace  is  consistent  with  the  restoration  of  the  Union.  The 
South  will  not  at  present  treat  on  any  other  basis  than  its  independence,  and 
the  Democratic  party  will  not  consent  to  peace  on  such  terms.  So  long  as  the 
North  will  not  listen  to  peace  and  separation,  and  the  South  will  not  listen  to 
peace  and  reunion,  there  is  nothing  for  negotiation  to  stand  upon  and  peace  is 
impracticable. 

While  things  remain  in  such  a  posture  that^here  is  no  alternative  but  war, 
the  chief  duty  of  the  opposition  is  resistance  to  unconstitutional  measures,  to 
the  peculation  and  abuses  that  prevail  in  most  departments  of  the  public  ser- 
vice, and  to  the  scandalous  attempts  to  pervert  the  vast  patronage  created  by 
the  war  into  an  engine  for  corrupting  the  people  and  controlling  the  next 
Presidential  election.  But  as  soon  as  the  South  will  signify  a  willingness  to 
treat  for  peace  on  the  basis  of  reunion,  the  Democratic  party  will  be  as  resolute 
for  an  armistice  and  the  immediate  call  of  a  convention,  as  it  was  for  the 
prosecution  of  the  war.  And  GOD  grant  that  that  auspicious  day  is  near  at 
hand! 


